Following Ksenia Semenova’s comments on the US abuse scandal, Alexei Nemov and Andrei Rodionenko were also asked to weigh in. Despite the fact that Nassar pleaded guilty and has been sentenced and so the abuse is not alleged anymore, Andrei Rodionenko claimed that no one knows what’s going on in the US and that it looks more like a show. He also claimed that some of the US coaches are being persecuted, likely referring to Valeri Liukin who resigned from the position of the WAG national team coordinator. Rodionenko also claimed that there’s no official information available and what is known is only rumors even though there’s plenty of official information in English and the scandal has been extensively (and mostly accurately) covered by the Russian media as well. Rodionenko said to Sport-Express:
A: No one knows what’s going on in the US. Right now there was an American girl with her coach at our competition – they don’t know and don’t understand anything. What can we discuss here? It’s the information that only the Americans know. What are they looking for, what they want to find – how can we discuss it if it doesn’t concern us? After the Olympics, there was different information, then they started to look for something… It’s all so unclear there. Especially, since we know the coaches with whom the US female gymnasts competed at competitions, with whom they won medals. And now they [the coaches] are being persecuted.
Q: This Nassar story is being heavily promoted now…
A: Of course, it’s being promoted, but why would it concern us?
Q: Can it affect the image of [artistic] gymnastics?
A: Of course. Everything that’s happening affects it. There’s also Canada and Great Britain which are doing something. There’s lots of information available but nothing concrete. Sort of “someone said somewhere”, nothing is being written. There are no official sources and the rest is controversial inconsistent conversations. It all looks more like an American show.
Just as Semenova, Rodionenko does not seem to think that the abuse scandal is in any way relatable to the situation in Russia, repeatedly saying that the whole situation doesn’t concern Russian gymnastics. Just last year several Russian gymnasts, including minors, came accused Leonid Arkayev of sexual harassment but that scandal was swept under the rug. At the moment, a prominent Russian biathlon coach is being accused of sexual harassment by an underage athlete and is under investigation and more athletes are coming forward. Clearly, no country and no sport are immune to abuse but somehow instead of using what’s happening in the US as a push to reassess the local policies, Rodionenko prefers to pretend that nothing like that could ever happen in Russia.
Alexei Nemov was actually more diplomatic with his comments:
“I competed at the time when things like this could happen. But I can’t be sure about that – perhaps it’s all artificially inflated. So, honestly, I can’t comment on these processes.
Q: Can these scandals affect the image of gymnastics?
A: Of course, they will and they already have.
Q: Can parents who want to bring their kids to gymnastics form prejudices because of these stories?
A: of course. Especially since we bring to school and clubs the most dear we have – our kids. Of course, parents have to be informed. But do such things happen in our time? I can’t say with confidence.
Calling it a “show” is beyond disgraceful. It is real! It is happening and none of his crimes were fiction. It’s better off that Russian gymnasts should stay away from this topic.